We were planning on going to the Seven Devils, but decided it was better suited for a long weekend. So, after scrambling around for a last minute idea, I decided on Galena Peak at about 11:30 the night before the hike. It totally fit the bill for a last minute adventure... a short hike with amazing scenery and relatively easy terrain. I have been dealing with achilles tendonitis, plantar fasciitis, and tibial tendon tears the entire summer, so the easy terrain was much appreciated!

Climbed up the SW ridge with my brother. The snow is soft this time if year so we switched into snowshoes about half an hour into the hike. Pretty steep slopes up top so crampons are essential. The greatest view of alpine landscape I've ever seen. Great views of Easley and silver peaks in the boulder mountain range as well as castle peak in the white clouds to the north and the sawtooths to the southwest. Best glissading I've ever experienced. Watch for cornices and avalanches.

My brother and I hiked up the SW ridge, and back down the W ridge a ways before abandoning it for a nice glissade. We found some large cornices on top, and heavy wind from the treeline up! It was the first experience with crampons for both of us. We were happy to get up and down without injury except for a nice sunburn. I won't forget the sunscreen in the car next time!

After being winded off Galena on our first attempt in early spring 2010 we were back in Sun Valley during the summer. No snow or wind just nice (smokey) sunny skies. Did the SW up and the W down. Went up the valley a ways and bushwacked our way to the ridge and on up to point 9824. Stayed high on the ridge of the rock crux which can be a bit hairy. Not a sole and no real trail except for the way down. We found this to be steep the whole way through, up and down. I would hate to deal with the sandy scree and steepness on the final 750 feet up the W ridge. Under 5 hours but a lot of fun and hard work.

Zach and I tackled Galena today via the West Ridge. It was a relatively easy and straightforward hike. The summit was VERY windy though. We saw two goats near the summit as well. Surprisingly there was a trail all the way to the summit and while we were sitting up there another man hiked up. This is only the second time I have had to share an Idaho summit with another person/party. This is a great peak with a big payoff for not a lot of work.

Was going to try the SW ridge but coming up the valley from Senate Meadows the route up to gain the West ridge seemed more straight forward. Got close to 10k and it was just too windy. I may have pushed a little further but my 95 pound girlfriend could have easily been blown off. Lots of wind loading also and saw too many avalanches. Glad we turned around when we did because I did a lot of postholing down the ridge. Tough time of the year with all the snow and warmth. Still a great day!

So I drove out there and found that the senate creek road actually fork's and it does not show it on my map. I started up what I thought was the correct ridge, turns out I was on the wrong one.
After backtracking, and heading up the creek valley instead of the west ridge because I thought I would make better time, I made it to about the 9,000ft level and turned back due to the day getting late. Anyways, the conditions were warm with a nice breeze from time to time. I did see quite a few bear tracks and scat. The snow is limited to a few patches, non of which are on the west ridge. Lots of fallen trees and the rocky areas were very lose which made for somewhat of a difficult hike on steep slopes after I climbed out of the valley.

I was disappointed that I had wasted 2hrs hiking in the wrong direction because I really wanted to get up this peak! I plan on returning soon and if anyone wants to come along or has any suggestions that might help that would be great!

My first winter 11er. Climbed the southwest ridge with Geo and Splattski, then descended the west ridge with a nice glissade mixed in. Great weather and views. Here’s a trip-report and some photos. It was a great day!

A bit of a bushwhack. My dog made it most of the way up but tore his paws up a bit so he waited for me at treeline. Pretty short and to the point with essentially no approach before starting the ascent.